Lucky Star
by Bionichute
Summary: Something strange has happened to Judy Hopps. After a case goes wrong, she find herself with a bizarre power, seemingly connected to the constellation Lepus. With the help of Nick, and a new partner, she must uncover a worldwide conspiracy, and stop a dangerous criminal family. A Zootopia fic like you've really never seen before.
1. Lepus (Part 1)

**Chapter 1 - Lepus (Part 1)**

It had been a rather ordinary day for Judy Hopps. She had woken up, gone to work, and spent most of the day with her partner, Nick Wilde. Unfortunately, "normal" in police work sometimes comes down to rather dangerous, dirty business.

For most of the day, it had been fairly calm, her and Nick mostly did general patrol stuff, and dealt with speeding drivers. But as they say, there's a calm before the storm. And boy was a storm about to hit these two.

"So, I said, that's what the skunk is for!"

Judy rolled her eyes at the fox's joke. He was running material by her, though she wasn't entirely sure if he was looking for criticism. It seemed more likely he was trying to get on her nerves. It was working.

It was getting dark, which meant it was almost time for them to clock in for the day. She was a bit disappointed nothing had happened. Every day she hoped for something exciting and heroic to do, but sometimes that just never happened.

It comes with the job, sometimes crime just doesn't happen.

Suddenly, the radio blared on, interrupting Nick during one of his jokes. "Unit two six five, we have reports of a bank robbery at the Savannah Central Bank. Head there ASAP, the robber is armed and dangerous." The radio flickered off.

"Shame, I was hoping that we'd get the rest of the night off." Nick joked as he popped his shades on.

"Now's not the time for jokes, we have work to do." Judy said sternly as she stepped on the gas. Despite her serious tone, she was actually ecstatic that something like this had happened. Didn't want to look unprofessional to her already fairly unprofessional looking partner.

The two arrived at the bank, the largest bank in the entire city. Though shorter than any skyscraper, the building's width had gotten it the award of "Building that covers the most land". Outside of the beige palace were a handful of empty police cars. It seemed every police officer in the region had been called.

"Must be some hell of a criminal if they called in this many cops." Nick noted as they got out of the car. "Hey, I think I see Wolford's car over there."

"Seriously, Nick?" Judy scolded. "I said no jokes, this is serious. C'mon!"

"It's called 'lightening the mood', Carrots."

The two ran up the stairs of the bank, spotting a few familiar faces at the top of the stairs. A number of officers stood outside as business went inside. The one to greet the two was Officer Grizzoli, a large brown bear.

"Hey, Grizzoli, how's everything going?" Nick asked, tipping his sunglasses as he looked up at the bear.

"Terrible." The bear said bluntly. "The robber's taken up a hostage, and the whole thing's basically at a standstill."

"Has he asked for anything?" Judy asked. "Like, a helicopter, or…?"

"He hasn't asked for anything but to get away with the money on his own." Grizzoli stated. "Kind of an idiot, if you ask me."

"So, we don't have any sort of plan?" Nick said. "That's just great."

"We can't just let him go, though." Judy said.

"Yeah, that's why this is a problem." Grizzoli sighed. "I don't know why the station sent you two here, I don't think any more officers could be a big help at this point."

Nick's ears quickly popped up, and he turned to the two with a grin. "Maybe not a big help, but what about a SMALL help?"

The two officers glared at him in confusion.

"Look at all the cars here, they all belong to officers who are way bigger than Judy and me!" He motioned over the empty cars. "If we get in there, we could sneak up to him and tase him without him ever knowing!"

"Its risky, but it could work!" Grizzoli stated. "I'll let the others know so they can cover you." The bear ran off leaving the two behind.

"You sure this will work?" Judy asked, a bit unsure of the idea.

Nick shrugged. "It's the best we have right now."

That certainly was a true statement, as much as she hated to admit it.

The door creaked open a bit. Judy looked through the crack, nose twitching. Inside was a line of officers, in a half crescent arrangement. In the middle of the room was a camel, one of his arms wrapped around a pig's neck. In his other hoof, he held a pistol, which was aimed to the pig's head.

An absolute standstill.

"What was that!?" The camel yelled, moving the gun closer to the pig. "Who opened the door!?"

"It was the wind." Said one of the officers, Delgato, a tiger. "The wind pushed the door open. Calm down."

Wit their small size, the camel couldn't seem to see them. The plan was already working well.

The two sneaked in, as quiet as possible. The first officer near them was Trunkaby. A decent first hiding spot considering her elephant size. The two hid behind her rather large legs, Judy on the left, Nick on the right. She tapped on the elephant's leg to let her know they were there.

She looked over to Nick. He had his Taser ready. She readied her own. She gulped down her fears, and the two began to move. There was scattered furniture everywhere, which they used as cover. The camel didn't seem to notice them at all as they quickly moved through.

Judy's heart was racing. They were almost out of cover, which also meant they were nearly ready to do the plan. All it would take to finish this was getting behind the next piece of cover, a large planter. They were currently hiding behind two different chairs. She leaned over, and looked at Nick. He gave her a nod.

Deep breath.

She quickly dashed across the floor, keeping quiet. The camel hadn't heard her. She looked over.

Nick dashed over as well. Maybe it was because of nervousness, or if there was some debris, but he didn't make it.

He tripped over, making a loud noise. That's when the camel realized what was happening.

"Oh, fuck." Nick let out as the camel's glare caught his own.

"I told you my deal!" The camel started, very angry at this revelation. "I get out of here, no one dies! And now, because you tried to be smart, I get to kill someone!"

He dropped the pig, who scurried away. He pointed the pistol at Nick. Everyone started to move, pulling out their own Tasers. Judy quickly climbed over the planter.

Click.

Bang.

Nick braced himself for the impact. He wasn't ready to die yet, there were so many things he hadn't done, so many things he hadn't said.

The bullet never hit.

He still didn't open his eyes. The only thing that could've happened was… oh god. He heard something drop to the ground, and a variety of confused rabble from the other officers and citizens. He could feel tears building up.

"Judy…"

Some say that miracles don't happen. This is mostly true, but sometimes they do happen. And its said that they occur at only the moments one really needs it. At this moment, a miracle occurred, one that would shock the world.

He opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was Judy. She was holding her paw up, smoke coming from it. On her back shone several bright lights, around eleven of them, in a pattern he recognized, but couldn't place.

She opened her paw, causing something to fall from it. It hit the ground between her legs. It was the bullet.

He got up, confused. On the other side of the floor was the camel, dropped to the ground, crawling away. "What the hell is that thing!?" he cried, terrified.

"Judy…?"

He turned her around. Her eyes were glowing an incredibly bright blue. "Judy, are you okay!?" He yelled at her, trying to get her to react. She seemed to be unconscious.

There was another bang.

Nick blinked his eyes, and suddenly he was on the ground, Judy in front of him again. She now had her foot raised, as if she had just kicked something. He looked up. There was a smoking hole in the ceiling.

During him trying to wake Judy up from this… trance, the camel had gotten up, and fired another shot.

Judy faced the camel, who was obviously terrified. "Stay away from me!" He yelled, backing off.

Nick blinked again.

Suddenly, Judy was on the other side of the room. She was in mid-air, delivering a kick directly to the camel's ribs. There was a cracking noise as time seemed to start up again. The camel flew back into the wall. As its back hit, blood spurted out of his mouth. He fell to the ground, eyes completely white, and jaw agape.

There was silence as the rabbit stood back down. She started to teeter over, falling onto her face. Plumes of smoke began emitting from her back.

Nick rushed over, and pulled her into his arms. He felt her pulse. It was there, but weak. "CALL AN AMBULANCE!" He yelled, desperately.

"Oh, Judy…"

* * *

"Sir."

"What is it?"

The bear approached him. He was a large, formidable force, dressed in a suit that was half black and half white. "We've gotten reports that the last has arrived." The bear said. He had no emotion in his voice.

The lion at the desk clacked his claws together. He was dressed in a smart business suit. "Good. I'm going to ring everyone up. Let them know the good news."

The bear stood, stoic.

The lion began to type on his computer keyboard. A large screen lowered from the ceiling. It switched on, filling the dull room with a bright light. The screen split into nine different sections, each with a different mammal on it. The screen only seemed to display in black, and a very bright white.

"We really need to get the color fixed on this thing." The lion said. "So, everyone, fantastic news. The last one has been discovered."

"Seriously?" Said one of the screens. It displayed a bull, a rather large one compared to most. "That took a good almost forty years."

"We think it's been a perfect amount of time for our rrrrreahearsal!" Said another screen. This one displayed a wolf, dressed in rather extravagant clothing, and posturing dramatically. "We've nearly perfected it!"

"I think it could've waited a bit longer." The screen here displayed a sloth, who seemed to barely be paying attention.

"I wonder what it'll be?" This screen displayed a goat, eyes covered by large goggles. "Well, I mean, it's obvious WHAT it'll be, but… you know."

The next screen displayed what looked like some kind of mongoose. "Who do you think she'll join?" It asked, in a slippery sounding voice. "Maybe lazy bones over there will get someone to join him again."

"Hey man, not cool." Said the sloth, starting to sound angry.

"No fighting you two." Said a sterner voice, which came from a screen displaying a rather rotund looking mammal. "When we're this close to completing the plan, infighting is bad, got it?"

"I think she should join me!" Said a smaller voice. The only thing displayed on the screen was a rather long tail, wiggling back and forth. "It would be nice to have someone like her on board."

"How do you even know its going to be a she?" Said another voice. The screen only seemed to display buzzing. "I think-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Started the lion. "But your feed's malfunctioning again."

"Seriously, again?" The voice said, before letting out a sigh. "I hate machines."

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of loud snoring. "Oh my god." Said the lion, slapping his face. "You're sleeping again, Aries." He said, snapping his claws.

This startled the last of the animals awake. It was a sheep in a very large coat. "Oh, sorry boss. You know me." He looked for a second. "Hey, where's-"

"She's out doing something." The lion interrupted. "Don't worry, it's fine. Anyway, I'd like to congratulate you all on nearly forty years of planning. Its all about to come to fruition."

* * *

"NICK!"

She jolted up, into a bright room. She quickly covered her eyes with her paws, it was too bright. It was like those stories of mammals with near death experiences, a white light. She started struggling. "No! I'm not dead, I'm…"

She felt someone grab her arm, and grasp her paw tightly. "Judy, everything's fine!"

It was Nick's voice.

She opened her eyes, and tried to get them to adjust.

She was just in a hospital room.

She turned towards Nick. He was still grasping her paw. She quickly launched into a hug, pulling him onto the bed. "Oh, thank god you're okay…" She was nearly sobbing.

"I'm glad you're alright, Carrots." He said, hugging her back. This caused the rabbit's ears to jolt up, as she broke away from the hug. "Man, I was enjoying that…" He whispered to himself.

She looked around. "Why am I in a hospital?"

"You don't remember?"

"Uhh…"

"What do you remember?"

"I remember…" She tried to think back. "I remember that bank robber firing at you. And I leaped in the way of the bullet…" She felt at her chest. She didn't seem to have any wounds. She turned back to Nick. "Then I woke up here."

"You don't remember anything else?" She shook her head. Nick sighed, placing his paw on his face. "Not even the bit when you caught a bullet with your bare paw?"

"I did WHAT!?"

"And then you kicked a bullet."

"Seriously!?"

"And then you kicked the robber so hard his ribs shattered."

"You have to be making this up." Judy said, sounding skeptical. "I know my legs are strong, but something like that's physically impossible."

"It happened." He said. "Me and two dozen other cops saw it happen. It was in the news."

"How long have I been here?" She asked.

"About two days." He said. "The doctor said it could have been a lot worse."

She flopped onto the bed, and pulled her ears over her eyes, letting out a loud groan. "I should be at work."

"No, you shouldn't." The fox said, sternly. "You need to rest."

"Uuuugghhhh…"

The door suddenly slid open. Entering the room was an antelope, the doctor, judging by its clothing. "Ah, I see you're doing well Ms. Hopps." He said, walking up to her. "We were expecting you to be out for at least another day."

"This is Doctor Richards." Nick introduced. "He's been doing some examines on you."

"And I'm happy to report that you are in almost perfect condition, at least physically." He announced. "And since you're awake, we don't have any reason for you to stay in the hospital…"

"So, I can go home?" Judy asked, shooting up.

"But, there's one thing I'd like to examine before I leave."

"Oh."

He turned to Nick. "Sorry, Mr. Wilde, but you're going to have to leave for this. It'll be a moment."

"Uh, alright." He said, a bit confused. He left the room anyway.

"Now," Richards started. "I need you to lay on your stomach, and remove your shirt. Or just, lift it up a bit."

Certainly an odd request, but she did as asked, pulling the back of her hospital gown up. The doctor felt around on her fur for a moment. "Ms. Hopps, have you had any recent injuries you can recall on your back?" he asked.

"Not that I can recall." She answered.

"Well, that's certainly odd." He said.

"What is?"

"When you were brought in, you had some minor wounds on your back." He started to explain. "Scarring, nothing that major. I kept an eye on them for a while, but they still haven't healed properly."

"Well, I don't feel anything." She stated. "No pain at all."

"Its entirely possible they just healed oddly." He continued. "Do you want to see one? Trust me, its not that bad."

"Um, sure." She said. It was her body, she deserved to see anything weird on it.

"Well, get some clothes on, and meet me in the lobby." He stated.

A few minutes later, Judy exited the room, dressed in a grey sweatshirt and jeans. Nick was waiting for her in the hall. "Thanks for bringing me some clothes."

"No prob. Least a partner can do, right?"

The two headed to the lobby. Doctor Richards was waiting for them, holding a large file. He handed it to the rabbit. "Here's the picture you requested."

"Thank you."

"What's in the folder?" Nick asked, looking at it.

"Apparently, I have some weird scars on my back." She explained. "I wanted to see what they looked like."

She opened the file, and pulled out a large picture. It was of her back, nearly life sized. There was no sign of the scars, but there was a series of red dots. Maybe those represented where they were? They were in an odd pattern, one she couldn't quite place, but definitely familiar.

"Wow, nice back shots." Nick joked, grabbing the picture. "Mind if I keep this?"

She grabbed the picture back from the fox, and gave him a glare. There was a second picture in the folder, a much smaller one, showing a close up of one of the scars. It was roughly cross shaped, though she couldn't tell if it was a cross or an X.

To her, it looked like a star.


	2. Lepus (Part 2)

**Chapter 2 - Lepus (Part 2)**

"So, you sure the last one is here?"

"All reports suggest that it is here."

He looked up at the incredibly large bear. Specifically, a black bear. His suit was half black, half white, and he wore a rimmed hat that was also half black and half white. As the bear spoke, no emotions seemed to resonate from his voice.

He himself was a jackal, specifically of the golden jackal variety. Average in build, which meant he was still very fast and strong, and average in appearance. He was perfect at his job, as much as he hated to admit it. He was dressed in nothing but grey pants, and a black hood. The hood on it could cover up his face.

"So, I'm the look for a rabbit, correct?"

"Indeed." The bear said.

"Any other details?" He asked. "Gender, name, occupation, fur color, height, weight?"

The bear remained silent.

"Always making it difficult for me, huh?' He said with a sigh. "You know how this goes, the scales are always tipped in my favor."

He looked up, and the bear was gone. Through the wind drifted his voice.

"Not always."

He shuddered, and looked around. The city was beautiful tonight. It had been a while since he had been there. Perhaps it was best to scope things out before taking action.

* * *

She couldn't believe this.

She wouldn't believe this.

It was like a horrible nightmare.

"A day off!?"

"Yes, Hopps, a day off." Said Bogo from the other side of the phone's speaker. "Doctor's orders."

"But sir, I'm fine!" She said. "I've been fine since I got out of the hospital!"

Bogo let out a snort, which she could practically feel blow into her face. "If you pass out again during the job, I'll be in serious legal issues." He started. "And remember, I'm your boss. So, if you decide to disobey me and come in anyway, I will have you fired on the spot, got it?"

"But-"

"The only butt here should be yours, staying in your house!" He yelled.

Judy sighed. "Yes, Chief." She hung up, and slammed the phone onto the coffee table. She plopped onto the couch, burying her head into a pillow, letting out as loud a groan as she could manage. Staying home? Police work was what she lived for! She hadn't missed a day since she joined!

It wasn't even really a home, it was only barely a step up from her previous apartment. Certainly more livable, but still very cramped.

She sat up, and sighed. The rabbit reached for the phone, and began dialling a number.

"Hello?" Asked a voice, groggy, tired.

"Hey, Nick!" She said cheerfully.

"Judy, why are you calling so early."

"You don't get up this early?" She said. "No wonder you're always almost late."

"Carrots, it's 5 AM."

"So?"

She heard him visibly sigh, very loudly, from the other side of the phone. "What do you want?"

"Well, I have a 'day off'," She started, struggling to say those words. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?"

"Sorry, Judy," He said. "But you're the one with the day off, not me."

Her ears dropped.

"But I'll tell you what, as soon as I'm off duty, we can do something together." He suggested. "Sound good?"

"That sounds fantastic." She responded. There was a brief pause. "So, uh… what do you do on a day off?"

There was some more silence from the phone. The only thing she could hear was the fox breathing. "Well, is there anything you wanted to do today?"

"I wasn't planning on doing anything until after work."

"So, you don't have anything to do?" He said, sounding very baffled. "Like, you don't have any shows to watch? No games to play on your phone?"

"Well, I do, but I really don't like sitting around all day doing nothing productive."

"That's the point of a day off, Carrots."

"Well, it's not how I live." She said. "Besides, I'm feeling very energetic today."

"I can tell." He mumbled. "Listen, I have to get up soon, and I need my beauty rest. You're clever, you can find something to do."

"I'll see you later too."

"See you later." There was a pause. "Wait, a sec, what?"

"Why did you just repeat yourself?"

"I didn't, Carrots. Good bye."

She dropped the phone to her side, and grumbled in frustration. Her foot was rapidly thumping on the side of the couch cushion, a sign she needed to do something. She got up, and headed to the fridge in the kitchen area. She opened the rabbit-size door, and looked in.

"Let's see, I already had breakfast." She started, talking to nobody. "So, in a bit it'll be lunch." Her ears popped up. "I don't have to get something from Snarlbucks!" She said, excitedly. "I can have whatever I want!"

She looked around the fridge. It was rather sparse. Milk, creamer, and a host of vegetables and fruit took it up. Basically, only the stuff she needed, rather than anything she wanted.

But what did she want? One of her favorite meals was a carrot salad, something she was perfectly capable of making. But she was planning to have that for supper. Wait, if Nick was coming by after duty, that would mean it'd be around supper time.

"I could make a dinner!" She quickly perused the selection of produce in her fridge. There were carrots, but she still wasn't sure what she was going to have for lunch. Would it be enough for two meals? There weren't any blueberries, she didn't particularly like them, but Nick did, so…

Her mind was racing with thoughts, all at a hundred miles an hour. After a minute, she shut the fridge door, a splitting headache suddenly going through her head. She opened up a nearby drawer, and pulled out a bottle of pain killers, quickly gulping them down.

"Maybe I'm not feeling alright." She thought to herself. "Maybe I should just go back to bed."

"No!" Her voice run through her head. "You need to get supplies, you're expecting a guest! It's rude not to do anything for them! You need to do something productive!"

Her subconscious was right, she did need to do something. "Alright." She started, aloud this time. "Carrots, blueberries, figure out what to do for lunch." She took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."

She paused for a moment.

The markets weren't open for another two hours.

* * *

7:10 AM

For some reason, Judy just couldn't stay still.

While waiting for the time to pass, she had done everything she could think of. She cleaned her apartment, which took forty minutes. Then she did some push-ups, twenty minutes. Then she just paced around for a bit, ten minutes.

The second time she did it, it took half the time.

It did manage to keep her busy until seven, though there was still a bit before the markets would open. To make up for that time, she had decided to walk. It wasn't much that she had to carry, so it would be fine.

She strolled down the sidewalk, heading towards the nearest store. It was early, so there wasn't much going on. Only a handful of other animals walking around, and not that many cars. The closest store was on Grass Street, not that far away from her apartment.

She stopped at the crosswalk. There were only a handful of other mammals there, a deer on his phone, a leopard dressed in a smart suit, and a rather casually dressed jackal. She glanced around a bit. The light didn't seem to want to change, despite there not being that many cars passing.

"Yeesh, the stoplights here are awful." The jackal next to her said.

"I know, right?" Judy responded. "I bet they'd tell us to stop if there was a car coming from a mile away."

The jackal chuckled in response, before glancing at the rabbit. "Hey, aren't you the bunny cop?"

"Haven't heard that one in a while." She thought to herself. He didn't seem like he meant any harm by it though. "Yes, I am." She said out loud.

"I remember you being in the news a few years back." He stated. "I'm from out of town, so I don't really know what goes on in the city."

"I guess you haven't heard about my recent exploit then, huh?" She chuckled. "Probably a good thing."

"Recent…?" The jackal's eyes dilated as he looked at the rabbit. Unbeknownst to her, he quickly pulled out his wallet, and dropped it to the ground.

The light switched, and the mammals began moving across the road. Once on the other side, Judy started to walk off. However, she noticed the jackal feeling around his outfit, seemingly panicked.

"What's wrong?" She asked, turning back to him.

"I think I lost my wallet." He said with a frustrated sigh. He looked out across the street. "Oh great, its over there."

She looked to the other side. There was a black wallet laying on the ground. "I can get it for you." She suggested.

"No, it's fine, I'll just-"

"Sir, this is my job." She said. Judy glanced up, studying the stoplight. She then looked both ways, no cars coming. There was enough time for her to run over and get it, and come back.

She took a deep breath. Without a second thought, the rabbit dashed across the crosswalk. She deftly picked up the wallet, spinning around on her foot, and then dashing back.

She stopped in front of the jackal, holding the wallet up. "Here you go!"

The jackal looked down at the rabbit, a bit surprised, for some reason. He gave her a smile, and took the wallet. He leaned down and shook her paw. "Thank you, this means more to me than you realize."

"Uh, you're welcome?" She said, shaking his paw back. "I mean, it's just a wallet."

The jackal stopped shaking her paw, and gave a nod, before heading off. Judy tilted her head in confusion, and headed off on her own. She didn't seem to notice the confused stares other nearby mammals were giving her.

The jackal looked at his paw, and clenched it. "I can't believe this." He growled to himself. "I can't believe it's her."

* * *

The doors slid open as she exited the store. She looked at the bag in her paw, and recounted the items she had bought. An extra bag of lettuce, five more carrots, a carton of blueberries, and a sandwich for when lunchtime rolled around.

Everything was going well. Checking the time, she noticed that it was only 10 AM!

Oh.

It was only 10 AM.

Dinner time was around 7 PM. She still had nine hours to kill. "Let's see," She started talking to herself as she walked away from the store. "I have to make two, so that's around an hour if I don't hurry."

Judy enjoyed making plans for the day. It was something that helped her stay calm during stressful times, and this was definitely a stressful time. But something was just making it more stressful. Ever since the morning, her head had been racing.

She wasn't sure what was causing it, usually she was calm and collected. It must have been everything going on, she just wasn't able to think straight.

It didn't matter. She quickly came up with a plan. First, she was going to bring the groceries home. She didn't want the summer heat beating down on them the whole day. When she had returned them, it was already 12.

The second part was to go to the park near her apartment. Ever since she became an officer, it had been work. She liked doing it, but during the time she had never really gotten to relax and see the sights of the city.

The only thing Judy hadn't put in the fridge was the sandwich. It was her lunch, after all, and why not eat during a lovely day in the park. That would relax her.

She looked around as she sat on the park bench. It really was a wonderful day, the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky. The park wasn't much, a small open field with a playground in the middle of it. There were lots of different families, lots of different species. But one thing most of them had in common was that they had children with them.

It was a park, of course there were children playing. It'd be weird without them.

The sandwich was really good, too. Lettuce and chopped up carrots, it had to have been made on a fresh bun. She always had a nose for picking out good produce. Must've come from growing up on a farm.

She put the sandwich down for a moment, placing it on a napkin on her jeans. She watched some kids play. A lion cub, a giraffe, and an antelope, each playing with a soccer ball. They kicked it back and forth for a moment, before the giraffe kicked it really hard. The ball flew, and fell directly into the street.

They argued for a moment. "Go get the ball!" The lion cub said.

"You're the one who kicked it."

The giraffe sighed, and headed for the ball. Judy started thumping her foot in midair as the giraffe walked into the middle of the street, without looking both ways.

Suddenly, her ears picked up something.

A loud honk, and screeching wheels coming down the nearby road. It was a speeding truck.

Heading right for the kid.

There was a scream, right before the bunny cop burst from the bench she was sitting on, and dashed towards the road. She couldn't let this happen. She was a cop, this was her job, screw the day off! She had to save him, she had to…

Why wasn't anyone moving?

She slowed from a dash to a brisk pace, and looked around. Everything seemed to have gained a blue tint to it, like she was looking through a filter. She looked over at the park, where another kid, a leopard, was going down a slide. She could still see him moving, but it was at an incredibly slow pace.

What was happening?

She stopped for a moment.

Suddenly, the scream continued, and the sound of a truck hit her again. For a split second, everything had gone back to normal. She quickly dashed back towards the road. When she made it there, the truck was inches away from hitting the giraffe. She grabbed his hoof, and gently pulled him out of the way of the speeding vehicle.

She stopped. Everything went back to normal, the truck passing by harmlessly. She could hear people whispering as they gathered around her.

"What was that?"

"Did she just save that kid?"

"Isn't that Judy Hopps?"

The giraffe looked her in the eyes. "Are you a super hero?"

Her eyes started twitching a bit. "No, I'm…" She paused. Everyone was looking at her. She backed away from the giraffe. "I'm… I'm…"

She quickly dashed away, seeming to vanish from the view of the crowd.

* * *

Judy sat on her couch. Her foot thumped in the air, at a pace even she didn't realize it could go.

This wasn't stress. This wasn't normal.

The apartment was entirely silent. She needed to think. To figure out what was happening. To find out what was wrong with her.

She looked at the folder on her table. She was fairly certain the first clues to finding out what this was were in there. She slid the picture of her back out of the folder, and on to the table. The red dots, the places where the scars were, they meant something.

She spun the picture around, trying to find something. A pattern, a shape, a word, anything. What was made of dots? What could you MAKE with a bunch of dots? Connect the dots, dot art, constellations…

Her eyes widened, and her ears bolted up. She pulled out her carrot shaped pen, and quickly began connecting the dots. When she finished, she looked at the design.

It was blocky at the front, with two small lines leading up. The back half of it had a rather smooth curve, but lead to a flat line down. Both halves of it caved a bit inwards, leading to a line in the middle. It looked familiar.

Judy hadn't really been into space. That was a thing one of her classmates was into. A sheep, Clara Brown if she remembered correctly. They hadn't really been close friends, but while working on the play they had gotten to know each other. Clara was obsessed with space, and could name every constellation.

The only constellations Judy knew off heart were the Zodiac signs, the rest of them were mostly blank. Except for one that seemed to stick out to her.

When she was a kid, she assumed it was just because they were both rabbits. She took a deep breath, and said the name.

"Lepus."

* * *

Nick had been assigned to the deadliest job on the force while Judy was having her day off. Something every officer dreaded.

Records.

It was a small desk by the boiler, an incredibly old computer placed on it. All he had done was tap away, transcribing every report. The sound of the old keyboard tapping was all he could hear at that point. Well, that and the rumbling of the boiler. And the stomping going on above him. Lots of noises, all of them annoying.

He felt like he was going to die of boredom. He needed something to break up the monotony.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He scooped it up without checking the ID. "Yeeeello?" He said, cheerfully.

"Nick, it's me."

"Oh, hey Judy!" He said, still just happy he had someone to talk to. "How's everything going? I've had a really awful day, do you know how terrible records is?"

"Nick, I…" He listened to her voice clearly. She sounded scared and sad. A tone in her voice he rarely heard, and one he hated hearing every time. "I need you to come over."

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried. "Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you in danger?"

"I don't think so."

"Is it an emergency?"

"Uh…"

He sighed. "Listen, I know something's up, but I can't just leave." He explained, as softly as he could. "I hate hearing you like this, can't you just tell me right now."

"I need to show you something."

"Well, what do you need to show me?"

"I can't tell you." She said with a sigh. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Judy, I would believe anything you told me." He said, firmly. "Especially after what happened at the bank."

She fell silent.

"Just meet me at my apartment."

She hung up. He looked at the phone, and sighed. Well, at least it broke up the noise. But now he was worried.

Really worried.

* * *

"The bunny cop is the last one!?"

"Yes, she is."

The jackal sat on the top of a roof. He had called his boss in order to tell him the news. It obviously hadn't pleased him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" The voice on the other end asked.

"I haven't got a single one wrong in all my time working with you." The jackal said, a bit angry at his boss' indignation. "I felt it in her. She's the last."

His boss grumbled. "You know how difficult this will be to cover up?"

"I don't pick who gets chosen, I only hunt them."

"Just make it as subtle as you can." The voice said.

"Right. Would you mind if I got her to help?" He asked.

"No, Virgo's out of the city right now." His boss said. "She's doing some business for me."

He rubbed his temples with his claws. "So, who's in charge while she's away? I'll just ask them."

"I believe Whitner was left in charge."

He groaned. "Why would she leave Whitner in charge? The guy's a mess."

"He also owns the largest media conglomerate in the city." The boss followed up. "Next to Virgo, he's the most powerful one in the city. I'm sure he'll get you some help."

He sighed. "Sure, whatever. You're the boss." He hung up, and placed the phone back in his pocket. This was going to be a tough mission.

* * *

The fox stepped up to her apartment door. He took a deep breath, and knocked on it. "Judy?" He said. "It's me." No answer. He knocked again, louder. "Can I come in?"

"It's open." She said from the other side, sounding melancholic.

He opened the door, and stepped in. The apartment was completely dark, she was sitting on the couch He flicked on a light switch, causing the rabbit to yelp in pain as she covered her eyes.

"I thought I was the nocturnal." He joked, sitting next to her. She laughed a bit at the joke.

"I guess sitting in the dark for ten hours isn't really good for my eyesight." She laughed.

The fox blinked a few times in confusion. "Carrots, it's only been 3 hours since you called me."

She rubbed her forehead. "There's another thing to add to the pile."

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Is everything alright?"

"No." She said, incredibly bluntly. "Everything is very, very wrong."

"You wanted to show me something, right?" He asked. "Are you going to…?"

She got up off the couch, and took a deep breath. She burst into a dash, whipping around the couch at a speed ridiculous even for a rabbit. In fact, he could barely make her out, only a blue trail left behind as she ran.

She stopped, instantaneously, in front of the couch. The fox's fur had been blown in one direction, and his tie was flickering in the still lingering wind. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but closed it.

She postured, trying to get him to say something.

"So, that's what happened at the bank." He finally spitted out.

He fixed up his fur, and straightened his tie. "So, how did you find out you're The Flash?"

"Well, obviously, it started with the bank incident." She said. "But weird things have been going on all day. Like, when I was talking to you, and I answered something you hadn't even said yet. Or when I was trying to think of something to do and my head was just racing or when I was at the crosswalk and I ran across it without thinking or when I was at the park and"

As she spoke, her voice suddenly started speeding up. By the point where she mentioned the sandwich, she was on full fast forward. She clamped her paws over her mouth.

There was silence as the fox looked at her in awe and confusion.

"Nick, what's happening to me?"


	3. Lepus (Part 3)

**Chapter 3 – Lepus (Part 3)**

When you're having an odd thing going on with your body, what's the usual best thing to do? Go to the hospital.

They had been sitting in the waiting room for more than three hours. Maybe just under four. Either way, it had been a long time since Judy had gone into the infirmary. Why they were making her sit out here was definitely a mystery, especially considering the basic checkup had lasted around ten minutes.

Being the middle of the night, there was next to nobody there. It was just them, and a receptionist who very clearly hated her job, or at least the night shift. There was silence, bad enough that Judy's ear twitched every few times the wall mounted clock ticked.

"Think they'll be able to figure anything out?" Judy asked. She was sitting as patiently as she could, trying to remain still.

"Being honest, I doubt it." Nick replied. The fox was a lot more impatient at this point. He had mostly brought her here just in case there WAS something wrong with her. Well, there was something wrong with her, but…

Whatever, they weren't going to find anything important, he could tell that.

"I don't think it's a medical problem." He continued.

"Then what is it?" She asked, her foot starting to shake. "Super-power radiation? Magic?"

"Judy, calm down." He said. The bunny tapping her foot was a sign of anxiety and stress, he had learned that after a while. "If you keep that up, you're going to cause a tornado or something."

She glanced down at her foot, and quickly stopped. She had been doing it on reflex.

"If you're getting impatient, just go to sleep." Nick suggested. "It's really late already. I'll stay up and let you know when they come out."

"Do you really think I can fall asleep?" She snapped at him. "I feel like I'm in a wide-awake nightmare. I just want some answers."

If answers were what she was looking for, she wasn't going to get them. Nick just wanted to make sure whatever was happening wouldn't kill her.

After a bit more silent waiting, the doctor finally emerged from the hallway. It was Dr. Richards, the antelope that had checked on her before. He seemed visibly shaken by something.

"Did you find anything?" Judy blurted out, startling the doctor.

"Um, well…" He tried to compose himself. "We didn't find anything… necessarily wrong with you." He said, though his tone made it clear it was a white lie. He looked at a clipboard with a chart on it. "By all accounts, you're still perfectly healthy, but…"

There was always a but.

"Listen, if you're holding out something important from us, then we can report you." Nick declared.

"No, I'm telling you everything!" Richards said back, panicked. "I'm just… trying to process it." He took a deep breath. "Ms. Hopps, your heart is…"

The two both braced themselves for the potentially horrible news.

"Your heartrate is abnormally fast."

They stared at him for a moment. "And?" Nick said. "Is that a problem."

"Let me explain it in a bit more detail." Richards continued. "The fastest a mammal heartrate can go is around 240 beats per minutes. Any higher than that, and they'll die. Your bpm is at one thousand."

The pair stared at him for a moment, wide eyed. Judy quickly felt her chest, but she couldn't feel anything.

"When we brought you in, we thought your heart had stopped." Richards continued. "But no, it was just… going that fast. Ms. Hopps, you should be dead right now."

"But she's not so all's well that end's well right?" Nick sputtered out quickly. He grabbed the rabbit by her arm, and pulled her down from the chair. "Come on Judy let's go home."

"Wait, we need to-" The antelope blurted out uselessly, the fox was already out the door.

Despite her apparent super speed, it took Judy a moment to fully grasp what had just happened. By the time she had, they were in the hospital parking lot. She quickly pulled herself from the fox's paw.

"Nick what are you doing!?" She shouted. "We need to go back in! There's something wrong with me, and Richards wants to help."

"Judy, I will not have you going back in there." He said, sternly, like a father scolding a child. "If you stay in there, you're going to be dissected, not helped."

"Jesus Christ, Nick." She said, dumbfounded by the fox's reasoning. "This isn't a movie, the ZBI aren't going to come in and take me away."

"I could give less than a shit." He snapped back. "I had a friend once, crazy into conspiracy theories, and she talked about this kind of thing all the time. If there is even the SLIGHTEST, MINISCULE CHANCE of that happening, I'm not going to let it happen."

"There isn't even a chance!" She shouted back. "That doesn't happen in real life! I'm going back in there, and I'm going to show Dr. Richards what is wrong with me!"

"Stop being an idiot, Carrots, you're going to get yourself killed!"

She sighed. Nick was clearly very serious about this. Whoever this friend might have been, she had probably implanted the conspiracy theory nonsense into his head. He seemed genuinely worried about her, though. She cold always come back tomorrow, so right now, she'd play along.

"Just take me home."

* * *

The jackal waited in a rather luxury room. Red velvet cushioning, matched with oddly purple interior decorating. A rather fitting look for the office of ZNN's president, already a strange individual at that. This wasn't the first time he had been to the place, and almost every time he had noted that the furniture and carpeting was brand new, though it was designed to look exactly like the old one.

The velvet chair was comfortable, at least. He had been waiting too long for him to show up, they were nearly running out of time.

Finally, the door opened up. In he came, a stunningly white horse dressed in a rather standard business suit. He was tall, even for a horse, but had the proportions of a string bean. A tough physique wasn't really needed for what he was capable of, though.

"Well, if it isn't Orion." He said, sitting down at his desk. "What brings you here?"

"You know very well what it is, Whitner." The jackal responded. "You got a call from the boss, just like everybody else."

"Alright, you got me." Whitner said with a laugh. He leaned over his desk, intrigued by what he had heard earlier. "So, you found the last one?"

"Yeah," Orion replied. "Unfortunately, she's a celebrity."

"You're saying that like a few of the higher ups aren't celebs." Whiter responded, leaning back in his chair. "What exactly makes this one so difficult?"

"She's a cop." He answered. "Hard to cover that one up."

"I see, that one might be difficult." The horse said, clacking his hooves together in thought. "I could work something out, you know."

"I suppose that's the reason why you're in charge while Virgo's out." The jackal said.

"Indeed." His face got a lot colder as he glared at the jackal. "If we want this to work out, you're going to have to capture her tonight."

"Yeah, there's no way that's happening." Orion said, not in a rude manner, but simply stating a fact. "I might be able to hunt them down, but it'd take me hours to find where she lives."

"Again, I think I can help with that." He placed a hoof down on the speaker button. "Jaqueline, send up the Canis Brothers."

"Oh, you can't be serious!" The jackal snapped, getting up from the seat. "We need her alive, those lunatics will kill her!"

"They won't if you're there to supervise." Whitner said, not making eye contact with Orion.

The door behind him opened again. This time, two wolves stepped in. they were clearly brothers, maybe even twins, as they had the same grey fur and even eye color. Despite their similarities, there was very clearly an older and a younger of the two.

The older one was larger, much larger than an average wolf tended to be. Most of it was pure muscle, though his eyes seemed to hold a cruel sort of wisdom behind them. The younger one looked more… mangy, spindly. He had more scars than the older one, and wild look in his eye. It seemed that getting into fights was his hobby.

The two wore similar outfits, black biker jackets and jeans. The younger of the two eyed Orion, and let out a smug laugh. "So, looks like the great hunter needs us again, huh?" He asked, sarcastically.

"I don't remember ever needing your help capturing someone." Orion coldly replied.

The older one replied with a simple, frank answer. "Musca."

"That doesn't count." The jackal said, clearly growing agitated just by having these two around. "He was split into ten thousand pieces, and you two weren't the only ones I called in."

"Still need our help!" The younger one laughed.

"Canis Major, Minor." Whitner said, slamming a hoof onto the desk. "This is a serious business deal. If you three don't get your act together, then we'll just be setting things back even further."

"Excuse Minor, Mr. Whitner." Major said, quickly placing a large paw on his brother's head. Minor growled in response. "From this point on we will be taking this entirely seriously."

"Excellent." The horse responded. "But must I remind you what to call me when we're dealing with the real business?"

"Sorry, Monoceros."

"Better." He said. "So, the boss wants you three to find the eighty eighth member. I'll arrange a plane to fly you out to him."

"And we have to do this by tonight." Orion said, shooting a glare at the two wolves. "We don't want more mammals to find out about this."

"Can't boss just come in and do damage control?" Canis Minor asked. Major responded by hitting him on the head.

"She isn't a no name thug like we were," He started. "Covering this up would require changing history itself, which not even the boss can do."

"Alright, let's just get this over with." Orion said, standing up from his seat.

Once this was done, he would finally be free.

* * *

The two had arrived back at Judy's apartment soon after the visit to the hospital. It was getting late, but the bunny seemed to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

She had been scribbling things down on her notepad for around a half hour. She was in some kind of mental trance, determined to figure out something. Nick couldn't do anything but wait for her to finish. He paced around as the rabbit scribbled something out, and invariably tossed the scrap of paper away.

After almost an hour, she let out a frustrated groan, and threw the notepad to the ground. "I can't figure it out!" She yelled.

"I could've told you that twenty minutes ago." Nick said sarcastically.

"I need to make sense of this." She said. "There has to be some reason why this is happening now."

"You're a smart bunny." He said. "You've probably pieced something together, right?"

She sighed, ears falling forwards. "I have, but…" She paused. "You're going to think I'm crazy if I told you."

"Judy, I saw you run at tornado speed, I'll believe anything at this point."

She took a deep breath, and let it out. The rabbit quickly dumped the folder of pictures onto the coffee table, and then pulled out her phone, typing something at, well, lightning speed.

"Shame the internet isn't as fast as you, huh?" The fox joked.

"Just sit down."

The fox did just that, quickly hopping over the back of the couch and plopping down onto the seat. He grabbed the photo of her back, which was now covered in red permanent marker, sketched out like a connect-the-dots image.

Okay, maybe she was a bit crazy.

"That pattern MEANS something, Nick." She said, holding her phone up. It had a picture of a constellation on it, apparently it was supposed to be in the shape of an ancient rabbit. He glanced at the photo, and then spun it around.

They matched.

"Well, would you look at that." He said, genuinely shocked for once.

"This constellation, Lepus, is somehow connected to me." She explained. "I… I don't know how or why, but it is."

"And you think that's why you have super speed?" He asked. She nodded. "Huh."

"Rabbits are generally pretty quick." She started. "So, maybe my rabbit speed just got… enhanced?"

"I… have absolutely no idea." Nick responded, though he sounded cheerful. "I've seen some weird things, and constellation back scar super powers is well above my pay grade."

"You're my partner, Nick." She said, grabbing his paw. "I need your help with this."

"I know." He said. A gut instinct had almost made him pull his paw back, but her paw felt nice. "I will help you, but first, you need to help yourself." He quickly stood up. "Get some sleep, and we'll figure out something in the morning, right?"

"Right, good idea." She said.

"Oh, and if anything weird happens tonight," He said, walking towards the door. He quickly spun around on his foot, and pantomimed a phone. "Just gimme a call, I'll be right over."

"Don't worry," She chuckled. "I will. You need to get sleep too, you know. Big day on records, I hear."

The fox groaned. He seemed to pause for a moment, before turning back to the rabbit. "You know, I have some vacation time left, maybe I could set some of it aside for tomorrow?"

"Well, I was-" She paused before she could finish. He was offering time out of his day to come and spend time with her, to make sure she was fine. She couldn't just decline him, she couldn't just let him be on records duty twice in a row. She wouldn't wish that on any mammal.

"I would love the company." Judy finished. "It would be good for both of us."

"Then it's a date." Nick followed up. "I'll come over and we can do some stuff. But right now, I'm tired. See ya."

"See ya!"

* * *

Sometimes, he had wished knowing what having someone else in your life was like. Someone to accompany you throughout the hard times, someone to talk to. Unfortunately, this was one of those times, and the thoughts racing through his head were inherently negative.

The Canis brothers were an inseparable duo, they had been there for each other since birth, and ever since he had found them. The problem was that they weren't exactly a perfect pair.

Major, obviously the smarter one, constantly had to push around Minor. It wasn't out of malice, it was out of a sense of brotherly love. At least, it was at one point. Unfortunately, Minor didn't see it the same way, the act of love being misinterpreted as lordship over him, to which he reacted with more rebellion.

This had been escalating for years at this point, and it was hard to tell if either of them had any compassion for each other at all.

Working with them, however few times it had happened, was always a nightmare. Unfortunately, in a city this big, and with a target this specific, he required their special talents.

"Either of you catch anything, yet?" Orion asked. They had been on the roof of the main ZNN building for almost an hour, only half of which the Canis brothers had been searching. The other half was spent fighting with each other.

The jackal, while all this was going on, waited as patiently as he could, sharpening a knife.

"Lessee…" Canis Minor spoke up. He sniffed at the air for a moment. "Looks t'be around… five thousand different bunny girls in the city."

"Well, that narrows it down a lot." Orion mumbled, sarcastically. He quickly spoke up. "Major, try to listen for a heartbeat… or lack thereof."

"How am I supposed to listen for nothing?" He asked.

Orion sighed. "You two are a team, right? Try working together for once."

The two glared at each other, Minor letting out a growl. Major quickly smacked him on the head. "He's right, if we combine our powers, we should be able to find her."

"Guh, alright." Minor said, rubbing his scalp.

Major fell into a deep concentration, while Minor sniffed at the air some more. It took a few minutes, but they seemed to have found something.

"Apartment building, Savannah Central." Minor said.

"Baobab Street, around five stories up." Major finished.

Orion got up, and slipped the knife into its holster. "As much as I don't like working with you two, gotta admit that you do get seriously good results."

"So, when are we heading out to catch our rabbit?" Minor asked, creeping forward.

"How does 'right now' sound to you?" The jackal asked. He briskly started to pace over to the rooftop's stairwell. "Hurry up, I wanna get this over with, as fast as possible."

"How d'ya think rabbits taste, bruv?" Minor asked as they headed for the stairs as well.

"Better than the beating the boss will give us if you end up eating her." Major growled back, the two heading down the darkened staircase.

"Yeah, if either of you fuck this up, we won't exist anymore." Orion followed. "So no eating."

"I never get to eat anyone." Minor complained. "Do you know how good evr'yone smells? My whole existence is like living in a bakery, but I can't touch anything!"

"You can whine about it later." Major said.

Orion rubbed at his temples. The sooner he was done working with these psychos, the better. And it would all be worth it.

* * *

Judy had been trying to go to sleep for an hour. Maybe two.

Well, trying might be the wrong word. She HAD fallen asleep… but had woken up after half an hour. She was usually a fairly sound sleeper, so it was odd for her to wake up without anything TO wake her up.

Odder still was the fact she felt entirely rested. And very, very hungry.

She got up, and went into the kitchen again. Her mind started to race again, thinking about the new strange set of circumstances. Like everything else that had been piling up, she attributed it to her new super speed.

Judging by the heartbeat, sudden high speed talking, and rushing thoughts, it seemed like this speed power was affecting more than just how she ran. Latest symptoms seemed to be her sleep schedule and metabolism.

"Why did this have to happen now?" She groaned. "I can't just do nothing for eight hours…"

She'd try to fall asleep again in a bit, but right now the sand mammal was clearly not coming. She plucked out a carrot from the fridge, and started nibbling at it. As she ate it, she started to think about the future.

How would her life be from now on? No matter how crazy his theory had been, Nick still had a point about the government researchers. Revealing this to anyone else would be a terrible idea… if it hadn't gotten out of control already.

Even if she tried to hide it, how was she supposed to do her job when powers she could barely control seemed to be taking over her body? A thought quickly slipped through her mind, calming her down a bit. Maybe she should just go full super hero, come up with a stupid costume and a dumb name.

She chuckled to herself, before moving over to the couch. The idea was comforting for some reason, maybe it was her mind trying to rationalize the situation… or rather, irrationalize it. A number of names passed through her mind, Jackrabbit, Wonder Bunny, Rabbit's Foot, cheesy garbage like that.

The thoughts seemed to be working, she could feel herself getting tired, especially as she finished the carrot. But just before she could pass out, there was a noise outside.

Footsteps, then a door creaking open, and then a door shutting. This repeated for a few minutes, getting gradually closer. Her ears could barely pick up the sound of talking from the hall outside. She tiptoed to the door, and listened closely.

"You guys managed to find the exact building, miles away, but can't find her room?" Said one voice. It sounded… familiar, for some reason.

"There's not enough noise at this time of day." Said another voice, a bit gruffer than the other. "I can't pick up anything specific."

"Yeh, and the smells here 'r makin' my nose go crazy!" Finished a third voice, this one maybe having an accent? It could have also been that he just had a horrible mush mouth. "Hard to find a rabbit smell in all this."

"Well, she has to be here somewhere." The first voice said, getting closer. "Hopefully she's asleep, that'll make this a lot easier."

Judy gulped. They were looking for her, weren't they? Who were they? Robbers? Murderers? The possibilities ran through her mind, before there was a sudden clicking sound from the door. A lockpick.

They were about to open the door, with her right there.

She pressed her body against the door, as hard as she could. She wasn't strong enough to keep it pushed in, as it started to push her back.

'You know,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe this would be a good time to use those super powers.'

She took a deep breath, and started to rapidly kick her legs back and forth. In an instant, her legs had reached an incredible velocity, and slammed the door back shut.

"The hell-?" She heard from the other side. This was quickly followed by laughter, though it sounded rather tired. "Well, I think we know which room she's in."

Judy pounded her forehead. That's why they were looking for her.

"Alright, get ready to bust in. Three, two-"

Judy instantly dashed off as fast as she could, searching for somewhere to hide. She quickly rushed back into her room, and slammed the door. But something unexpected happened.

Again, without realizing it, she had gone so fast that she had slowed time down. When she attempted to slam the door shut, it seemed like it had closed normally. She paused for a moment, letting time return to normal.

When this happened, there was what felt like an earthquake. Glass shattered throughout the entire building, and the whole apartment seemed to shake.

"Hell wazzat?" One of the voices asked. Despite her speed, it seemed she had taken long enough for them to get into the apartment first.

"A sonic boom, seems like." Said the other voice, the less dumb one. "She probably did it by accident."

"You 'lright, bruv?" The dumber voice asked.

"Yeah, just a headache." Groaned the third voice.

"Think we know where she's hiding at now."

She heard them stepping towards the room, she was trapped. Usually she'd have thought up something, but everything just seemed to be passing through her mind too fast. She braced herself as she heard the doorknob rattle.

The door swung open, revealing two wolves, one lanky, the other one much larger and muscular. Between them was a jackal… the one she had met earlier.

"You!?"

"Yeah, me." He said.

"She looks angry." The lankier wolf said, leaning in closer to her. "Wanna go fer a round?"

"We're supposed to avoid fighting." The jackal said, pulling the wolf back. "We're just going to get this over with quickly."

"Get what over with!?" Judy shouted back. "What are you three here to do, kill me!? Take me to some… government lab so some scientists can dissect me!?"

"Neither." The jackal said with a sigh, like he had heard it a dozen times before. "We're here to ask you to come with us, peacefully. No violence."

"I thought we were gunna kidnap her?" The lanky wolf said. The jackal clenched his fists in annoyance.

"I knew it!" She blurted out.

"Yeah, we were going to kidnap you when we thought you were asleep," The jackal admitted. "But now that we know you're awake, we can negotiate-"

"Negotiate with my FOOT!"

The rabbit leaped forward, delivering a lightning fast kick to the jackal's jaw. The force of the kick launched him across the room, directly into a wall. A large dent had been created as he slammed into it.

The jackal rubbed the side of his face. "Ough, haven't felt something like that in a good while." He groaned, before getting up. "So, you two wanna fight? Well, now you can fight."

Judy gulped as the wolves towered over her.

The lankier one raised its paw, claws barely gleaming in the dark. She leaped out of the way as they clawed through the carpet. "Daggit!" The wolf yelped as he tried to pull his claws out. The larger wolf turned around, effortlessly plucking him free from the carpet.

Judy backed up, into the light of a now glassless window. "Hey, I recognize you two." She said. "You're Damien and Carlyle Fenris, you guys are Wolf Pack flunkies! Why are you-"

"They're so much more than that, Ms. Hopps." The jackal said from behind her. "YOU are so much more."

The lanky wolf, Carlyle, pounced at her. She quickly ran out of the way, but her super speed kicked in. Startled by it, she ended up uncontrollably sliding into a wall at the other side of the room, fast enough to leave another dent.

She rubbed her head as she stumbled back. "You don't know how to control it, do you?" The jackal asked. He leaned down, and held a paw out. "If you come with me, we can help you understand everything."

"I don't want to associate with you criminals!" She yelled, delivering another kick to the jackal's jaw. He rose back up, and stared down at her.

He let out what seemed like a mix between a frustrated yell and a snarl. "I've been trying to make this easy for you, and for me." He started. "But if you want to play it tough, then I'll have to be tougher."

He pulled out a dagger from the holster on his side, and pointed it down at the rabbit. Her ears popped up, just before he attempted to jab it down. She dodged out of the way, and backed up towards the TV stand. She quickly pulled down a vase, and tossed it at him.

The jackal quickly tossed the knife at her, scraping past her cheek. It had cut off a tiny amount of flesh, enough for there to be blood.

In the instant he had thrown the knife, the jackal punched his other arm forward, directly into the vase. It shattered into several large pieces, which seemed to hang in the air, or maybe it only felt like they did. He plucked several pieces out of the air, and started throwing them at her.

Judy leaped out of the way, the glass pieces also embedding themselves in the wall and TV stand alongside the knife.

He glanced back to the wolves. "You two gonna help, or are you just going to stand around?"

"On it, Orion!" Carlyle said, before quickly rushing over to the rabbit. Damien seemed to stay still, however. Orion and the wolf had locked her in a corner, with no way to get out.

"So, will you come with us, or are you going to let us commit more bodily harm to you?" Orion asked. "Because the second option isn't good for either of us."

"I'm not letting you creeps near me!" She shouted back. She looked at the blood on her paw from the wound. It was fresh blood. She glanced around, looking back and forth at the two assailants. She tilted her paw, a drip of blood starting to fall from it.

In that instant, she took off, activating her super speed. Well before either of the two could even react, she leaped up and delivered swift kicks to them, though nothing seemed to happen. Judy landed back on the ground, and turned to face the wolf and jackal.

The blood hit the floor.

They quickly flew off, Carlyle into the TV, and Orion into the door. Both objects were crushed by them. She let out a sigh. "I think I'm getting the hang of this." She muttered.

"You still got a problem, rabbit."

She glanced up, Damien staring down at her. The bunny gulped, he was huge for a wolf, probably need a bit more oomph to knock him down.

She started to dash around the wolf, building up speed. Her plan was simple, build up enough speed, then jump off something and kick the wolf in the face before he could even do anything. Starting with a few rotations around him, this seemed to be a cinch.

Unfortunately, she had forgotten about something.

While thinking up her plan, she hadn't noticed the wolf's foot, slowly moving forwards. At the planned last round, it had extended all the way. By the time the bunny realized what had happened, she was flying through the air.

She crashed into a hanging picture, the glass shattering, and a few shards piercing her skin. She had been tripped, and combined with her speed, the result was being flung across the room. She started to slide down the wall, vision getting blurred.

'I should have seen that coming' was her last thought before passing out.

"Ugh, anybody get the license plate on that truck?" Canis Minor mumbled as he got up from the shattered TV. He quickly covered his nose. "Yuk, din't realize these thing stunk on the inside."

Orion let out a growl as he got up from the shattered door frame. "Rabbit can put up a good fight at least." He muttered as he entered the room. He spotted Canis Major, carrying the rabbit by her ears. "Huh, how the hell'd you do that?"

"Listened for her footsteps." He responded. "Then I tripped her."

"That's why you're the smart one." Orion followed up. He glanced over at Minor, who was still covering his nose. "Lotta good you did."

"Shuddit!"

Major walked up to Orion, still carrying the rabbit. He quickly plucked her from his grasp, and started examining her body. The wounds weren't bad, but they could get a lot worse if unattended. Having her die would be the worst thing possible, so it was best to be safe.

"You know, I was expecting this to take longer." Orion admitted. "Though I also expected more negotiation, but I guess I was just too hopeful about you two deciding not to fight." The jackal let out a sigh. "You guys have a hideout, right?"

"Wolf Pack hideout." Major answered. "Its in the Rainforest District."

"Lessa hideout an' more jus' our house." Minor followed up.

Orion rolled his eyes. "And less a house and more a warehouse, right?" The wolves nodded, Major almost ashamedly, while Minor didn't seem to care. "You guy shave first aid kits there, at least?"

Major glanced over at his younger brother, and then back at Orion. "A surplus."

"Wonderful." Orion replied, being genuine, but his tone being very sarcastic. "Let's head out before anyone reports us." He glanced around the utterly destroyed room.

"Well, gotta thank Lepus for giving us a good cover."


End file.
